Chapter 9, First experience of life in medieval Europe
After using the [dress-up camera] to put on medieval European clothes, and relying on the efforts of the current owners of the manor, Levi and his wife, to smooth things over, Wang Qiu and Doraemon, their group of visitors from another world, were finally able to openly appear in the manor. Wandering around with curious eyes.
——During this outbreak of the Black Death, everyone in Marseille was quickly overwhelmed by the fear of death. Even the most suspicious and trouble-making people in the past have lost all hope. They are like walking zombies and have become much slower to react.
Therefore, regarding trivial matters such as "there is a group of strangers around their master for some reason", the servants just nodded numbly to show their understanding, and then asked if they wanted to prepare breakfast and accommodation for them. After getting Master Li Wei and Mrs. After answering in the affirmative, he said nothing more. The old butler who might have been suspicious and came to test and interrogate, as well as the personal secretary of the late old master Mr. Diderot, and another senior clerk just sent from Rhodes Island by the Knights Hospitaller, were all present. He had already been called by the Lord and ascended to heaven within a few months.
In this way, this seaside manor with the octagonal white cross flag on a red background has temporarily become the home of Knight Levi, which greatly facilitates the activities of Wang Qiu, Doraemon and others... The next morning , when it was just dawn, the Levis, who were so excited that they had not slept all night, took Wang Qiu, Doraemon and others to visit their home - the "Jihader" in the name of the Knights Hospitallers. manor"!
In general, although this place is a manor in name, in terms of defensive power, it can actually be called a small castle, at least comparable to the earthen walls of the rural landowners in China's troubled times - and it is still a castle. No expense was spared with the exterior walls made of stone.
The entire estate is located on a small peninsula that protrudes southward into the Mediterranean Sea. It is surrounded by water on three sides, with trenches dug on the land side. It also has a small private dock and a solid breakwater. Outside the manor are vast fields and pastures, with several small villages scattered around. These places once belonged to the owners of the manor, the Bacon family that Knight Levi currently inherited. However, due to various complex factors such as war, politics and family strife, they have been taken away by other nobles successively, leaving only the Bacon family. A small patch of land near the Mujahideen's estate lingers.
Although the Bacon family has already turned around in terms of wealth since they joined the Knights Hospitaller, participated in the maritime trade, and received generous rewards from senior men who were never short of money and whose gold and silver around them could be measured in cubic meters, they had lost their fortune. But the land cannot be regained for a while.
Since the Jihadist Manor itself is too small and inconvenient to expand, a considerable number of its subordinate workshops, mills, docks, and charity hospitals run by the Knights Hospitallers can only be built not far outside the manor, leading to On the roadside of Marseille.
Within the walls of the manor, there are more than a dozen houses of different heights. The tallest one is four floors, but most of them are bungalows. Some are already relatively decent brick houses, and some are still using shabby thatched roofs. A considerable part of them are barracks, stables and weapons depots, used to station the overseas dispatched troops and recruits of the Knights Hospitallers. There is a small fighting training ground. The other part is a warehouse used for business, connected to the private dock on the seaside. In addition, there are ancillary facilities such as cattle sheds, granaries, farm tool warehouses, blacksmith shops and water wells.
Finally, at the highest point with the best views, there is the small villa where the owner of the manor lives. It is a four-story building with a pillar and beam structure. The ground floor is the hall and servants' quarters, and the second and third floors are the living room and the attic. and cellars are storage rooms.
The decoration of the hall is very simple, completely in medieval rough style, far from the luxury of the British manor in the future: rough bluestone floor, large oak table and chairs, walls decorated with several flags and a tapestry, and several statues placed in the corners Armor, a few shields, and a place to hold the pottery and wooden plates that are used every day at the table A low sideboard with a bowl - Oriental porcelain is a priceless collection in the Western world at this time. Even the princes and nobles are rarely willing to use porcelain to eat; six rough clay oil lamps are hung on the wall by chains. , an empty silver candlestick was placed in the center of the table - candles were also very expensive in this era. Even wealthy people who could afford to light a lamp were reluctant to use smoky and pungent oil lamps. Candles made of beeswax are generally restricted to churches and celebrations.
It can be seen that the "candlelight dinner" in the Middle Ages definitely not only meant romance, but also meant luxury: if it were not for chasing girls and digging into their pockets, ordinary men would not be willing to spend so much money and burn it during dinner. Candles! ! !
Finally, just like the traditional Western living room, there is also a huge fireplace with a fire shining all day long. Even during the day, this fire provides most of the lighting, because the narrow windows are not equipped with glass but Oil-soaked parchment - Although glassware is no longer particularly rare in the Western world these days, large pieces of flat glass are still hard to come by and the price is high. Unless it's the kind of cathedral that doesn't take money seriously, it's rare for a house to have glass panes on every window... Because it's still February, so even though the fireplace is lit, the empty hall It was still very cold, so Wang Qiu and the others took a few glances before going back upstairs.
——What they didn’t notice was that although the decoration of the hall was very simple and there was nothing worth seeing, it was at least clean. There was not even a pile of feces beside the fireplace, in the corners and under the table... This was It seems to be a matter of course in the modern world, but in medieval Europe, it was already a serious mysophobia-should it be said that this is a place where a group of time-travelers have lived for several years?
Compared with the simple and simple hall on the ground floor, because it is the residence of the travelers themselves, the second and third floors are much more comfortable and luxurious. The floor is covered with soft Persian carpets, the walls are painted with lime, and the windows are all the same Glass windows make the interior very bright.
Among them, the largest bedroom on the second floor was the residence of the late owner Diderot the day before yesterday. As for the many remaining bedrooms, they were originally assigned to the space reincarnators of the original handsome team (according to the settings of the main gods, they are members sent by the Knights of the Hospital). But during the Battle of Crecy, almost the entire team of Handsome Team was wiped out. Only Levi and his wife ran back, so most of the rooms are currently empty, except for one room on the third floor where Levi lives. couple. In addition, there is a small restaurant and two offices on the second floor. Out of curiosity about the Western mansion, the five Doraemon team enthusiastically looked at the changes in each room, but the result was that the primary school students were disappointed.
"...It looks really shabby! The walls are bare, not even a single oil painting! The pattern of the carpet is also very monotonous, and some of it is linted and faded. There is also no decoration on the furniture, and some cabinets are not even painted. I haven’t even brushed it, and I can’t feel the splendor at all.”
Kogawa smacked his lips dissatisfied, "...it's completely different from what I saw in the movies "Gone with the Wind" and "Pride and Prejudice"!"
——He seemed to have completely forgotten that those two Western movies were both set in the modern setting of the 18th and 19th centuries, and now it has just arrived in 1348...
But in any case, even the bedroom where Levi and his wife, the owners of the manor, sleep, is very simple and simple in modern eyes: in the center of the room is a large bed eight feet long and seven feet wide, which looks quite ordinary. It was impressive, but when I reached out and touched it, I found that the mattress was stuffed with wheat straw and hay! Since cotton has not yet been widely used in the West, bed sheets are made of rough linen, which is completely incomparable with modern cotton sheets. There are no quilts, so blankets can only be used to keep out the cold. Even pillows are made of leather. Yes, at first glance I thought it was a leather bag used for boxing training!
From a modern perspective, such a bed is almost a prison standard. But it was already very good in the Middle Ages - at that time, just being able to sleep on a bed was a symbol of wealth. Most of the lower class people and even poor knights could only sleep on haystacks for their entire lives! For example, Wang Qiu took a look at the places where the servants slept on the ground floor just now and found that there were only two small beds in total, and everyone else had to sleep on the floor!
In addition to the big bed, there is no wardrobe, no mirror, no dressing table, and no independent bathroom. There is only a table, two chairs and a box stuffed with old clothes, and the workmanship is very rough. What patterns and carvings. There are several horizontal poles across the wall, and the clothes and skirts of Levi and his wife are hung directly on them - but those clothes are very gorgeous at first sight, including velvet dyed in purple, brocade embroidered with gold thread, And mink robes. Finally, there is a relatively delicate bronze oil lamp, also hung on the wall with a chain.
From the perspective of modern people, this house is at best the standard of a remote village, but by medieval standards, it is already extremely luxurious.
Therefore, after wandering around this manor, Wang Qiu and Doraemon felt very cold - the home of the powerful Lord was so shabby, with only a few good things. Clothes, gold, silver and jewelry are not seen at all, so how poor should other citizens be? How can we raise tens of billions of yen in a place like this to pay off Doraemon's debt? ! !
As for how to save this world on the verge of destruction, how to help Knight Levi earn points to redeem himself and return home... Sorry, they haven't thought about it yet.
Just when they were filled with various thoughts and frowning, a servant wearing dusty linen clothes came up and politely told them that breakfast was ready and invited all distinguished guests. We went to the hall on the ground floor to dine.
Then, when Wang Qiu and Doraemon walked to the dining table, their eyes suddenly became sparkling!
Well, it’s not that this European medieval-style breakfast is so rich, delicious, and full of color and fragrance that makes Doraemon so happy that he forgets the pressure of debt. The real key lies in the utensils on the table that hold the food - he’s actually All shiny silverware!
Frankly speaking, those handmade silverwares from the 14th century are already quite exquisite. Some have geometric patterns, some are engraved with elegant flowers and plants, and some are even inlaid with gems! Even if it is placed in a modern craft store, it will definitely sell!
Wang Qiu silently estimated the value of the silverware on the table and found that if added together, it could be sold for at least tens of thousands of yuan!
From this point of view, it seems that this place still has some potential, at least it won't be a waste of time to volunteer.
When he thought of this, Doraemon exchanged glances with Wang Qiu, and his mood seemed to become happy.
In comparison, the food displayed in these shining silverwares seemed mediocre - bread, cheese, hard-boiled eggs and broth were served, as well as wine and milk to accompany the meal. Unfortunately, due to the It's winter, so I can't make a fruit and vegetable salad...
A breakfast with so many varieties of dishes would definitely be considered luxurious and decadent according to the living standards of medieval Europe. It could be used for a banquet in a middle-class home. But in the eyes of modern people, there is still almost no place to eat.
For example, poor Nobi Nobita almost broke his teeth after curiously taking a bite of the bread on the silver plate - this bread was still a "high-end" white bread, not the kind of black bread mixed with bran and sawdust. Here's the bread! But it's still as hard as a stone!
There is no way, there are no leavening agents on the earth these days, and even the use of edible yeast has not been popularized, so the bread eaten by medieval Europeans is not the same as the soft bread that modern people eat that is fermented and added with sugar and butter. It's a kind of unleavened bread that is similar to compressed biscuits. It is dry, hard and chewy. It tastes as bitter as wood when chewed. This is true for black bread or white bread...
Therefore, the correct way to eat this kind of hard bread that can be used as a brick to beat someone to death is to break it into pieces and soak it in soup, just like mutton soaked buns, rather than fighting it directly with your teeth... But when While laughing at Nobi Nobita's gaffe, Kokawa Kofu broke off a small piece of bread and threw it into the soup bowl according to Doraemon's instructions. When it finally softened and then put it in his mouth, his face also changed. turned green.
——Because there is no salt in this broth! ! !
Well, it seems that until the 21st century, some Western countries, especially the United Kingdom, still retain this custom. Food is cooked and served to the table in its original flavor, with all salt, sugar, sauce, vinegar, and pepper added. You have to add the powder yourself. Some people were lucky enough to taste mashed potatoes without salt when they held a fraternity meeting with Western European students in college... This was especially true in the Middle Ages when salt and other condiments were expensive.
Fortunately, there were not only exquisite silver salt shakers but also expensive pepper on the table, placed right in the center of the table.
After Fat Tiger poured a lot of salt and pepper into the soup pot unceremoniously, and even made the male servants standing behind him show distressed expressions, everyone finally felt that the soup and the bread soaked in the soup, It's barely edible - at least it won't make you spit it out.
In addition, the cheese on the table is even more daunting - since the pasteurization method was not invented, the bacteria in the cheese cannot be cleaned, so most of the cheese in the Middle Ages is not the modern light yellow solid, but a lump of glowing paste with green or blue markings, and also It exudes a strong fermentation smell... Although the Chinese here occasionally eat stinky tofu, and the Japanese here are also accustomed to eating natto for breakfast, this medieval bacteria-infested cheese exudes a unique sourness. The smell still made everyone so sick that they almost vomited.
Even the fresh milk squeezed out today in the clay pot tastes a bit strange to modern people who are used to drinking sterilized boxed milk - to be honest, the so-called "natural and pollution-free" green milk Food is often not as good as some people imagine.
In the end, the picky ladies just ate a hard-boiled egg each, frowned and reluctantly drank a few mouthfuls of broth, then pushed away their plates, refusing to eat any more of these damn things. Wang Qiu and other men only took a few more bites of the "Western-style mutton steamed buns" and couldn't swallow them anymore. At the same time, while all the time-travelers were sitting at the long table in the hall on the ground floor, tasting the "pure European medieval flavor, pure natural pollution-free green food", and being full of criticism about it, they had already endured a long time in medieval Europe. For five years, Levi and his wife were also in the small restaurant upstairs, happily tasting the long-lost industrial-era food rich in various additives and preservatives...